Does ZoneAlarm interfere with online games?

[Shazam!]

I've been thinking of installing ZoneAlarm, but does it interfere or cause lag with muliplayer games?

[Toadman]

I had a concern as well, and the only time it would go off is when scanning for game servers, at least in Half-Life.

[Gutter Ball]

Yep, it causes me tons of headaches, at least on Battle.net. If one or more players has a firewall(set to med or high), they cannot join in a game I've created. :/ I've had to play with no firewall on. I have Starcraft all checked off in the progs section but still no go. Someone else said theirs worked fine, so I dunno!

[OuTpaTienT]

Well huh? 'Cause I routinely game online (daily) without any problems at all. I have ZA set to the highest security settings.

Only time I ever encountered an undesirable effect was having the "blocked access" message pop up during a game...if you're playing full-screen then it kinda screws you up. But by just having it not always show the pop up fixes that.

I get the same pings I get without using ZA, so it doesn't slow anything down.

Only other thing I can think might cause the problems you guys speak of is this: In ZA, in the "security settings", I do not have the two boxes checked at the bottom of the window...I think they are labelled - BLOCK LOCAL SERVERS & BLOCK INTERNET SERVERS.

In fact, I usually have rc5, Zone Alarm, Macro Express, & Outlook all running whenever I jump into an online game...with no measurable effect on my ping times.

[Faramir]

I play about a half dozen different games a week online with no problems except Age of Kings. No matter what setting its on it won't let me connect. So thats one game out of two dozen games and programs that I use constantly that work with Zone Alarm. for the one that doesn't I just shut it down till I'm done playing. I'm on a cable modem so I haven't noticed any lag at all.

[Shazam!]

Thanks for the replys especially the last one since I really only play AOK online right now. It's easy enough to disable it through the task bar icon anyway while I'm playing AOK.

[Target]

Hey guys....for the program that you are having problems with, there is no need to shut-down ZoneAlarm altogether.

Simply go into the configuration section, and under programs, check the box called "pass lock" for the application you want. That essentially allows that program around your firewall, while leaving protection for other applications and your computer in tact.

[RCN_Moose]

I might be confused here, but...
It was my understanding that the pass lock is used to allow programs (ie RC5) to connect to the internet even when you have the security lock engaged.

Moose

[Shazam!]

Actually, has anyone had problems with ZoneAlarm and EverQuest? I don't play EQ myself, I'm just curious because a friend of mine plays it alot and I'm going to recommend ZoneAlarm to him.

[Shazam!]

One more quick question: ZoneAlarm has blocked a few attempts to access my computer and it tells me the IP address of who requested access. I remember using a program that would give you information about an IP address, I used it once but I don't have it anymore and can't remember the name. What programs are out there that can give me more information about an IP address? Thanks!

[Megabyte]

Here is a program that lets you trace IP's if its what your after. Neotrace http://www.neoworx.com/

[OuTpaTienT]

This can prove helpful as well:
http://pc-help.org/trace.htm